There aren’t many things in the world rarer or more stunning than a piece of Csarite, one of Mother Nature’s most exquisite treasures. The planet’s surface area is around 197 million square miles. There is just one Csarite mine in the world. Get to know this rare and enchanting beauty a little better with this guide.
How Rare are we Talking?
For every ten thousand Diamonds discovered, just one piece of Csarite is unearthed! Added to that, of that piece that is found, just 2% will eventually make its way into a piece of jewelry. If you have a two carat piece of Csarite, 98 carats will have been lost in the cutting process.
Why is so much lost?
Well this is for two reasons really.
The first is that Csarite is very brittle, and has what is known in cutting circles as ‘perfect cleavage’. This means that it forms in sheet-like layers, and it hardly needs an excuse to break off into long sheets, making it every gem cutter’s nightmare.
The second reason rests on the shoulders of the mine owner himself, our good friend Murat Akgun. One of the reasons we were so excited to go into partnership with Murat was his obsession with perfection. He is more stringent with the standard of the output of his mine than anyone else we’ve come across. Every piece of Csarite must be eye clean, and must show exceptional color change. Csarite’s 2% yield is therefore as low as you will find anywhere in the mining industry.
So why else is it interesting?
It’s exceptional beauty!
Csarite is gem quality Diaspore from the remote wilderness of the Anatolian mountains of Turkey, and although Diaspore is found in a few locations worldwide, what sets Csarite apart is its quality and its ability to change color.
In candlelight, Csarite displays an extraordinary raspberry purple-pink. In daylight, it is a stunning Kiwi green.
In mixed lighting, it will display a constantly shifting color in between. In fact, many who regularly wear the gem claim it looks different in different weather, and will seem to subtly shift color to match your outfit!
As well as being a Color Change gem, it is also very pleochroic. This means that it also displays different colors from different angles.
Added to all this, it is always completely natural. Apart from world class cutting, a piece of Csarite is unaltered from its state when it is discovered, often embedded in strange otherworldly Mica formations.
Where else can I find it?
You may see similar gems from this region for sale, be sure to check that they are the real deal. The Csarite mine, like many other small scale mining operations suffers from thefts, and sometimes pieces that Murat has discarded as being too cloudy or won’t show enough color change, will find their way into the market, under the name Csarite or a host of other names. Here at Gemporia, we work exclusively with the mine owner, and have traceability at every stage from mining to cutting to setting, and directly to you.
But don’t just take our word for it…
HRH Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall wears a stunning Csarite ring by Gemporia. She told us it was ‘exquisite’, and added that
“It has been greatly admired by everyone who has seen it, and I had a
great deal of trouble wrestling it back from my daughter’s finger!”
As well as Camilla’s Csarite ring, Csarite has a fan in Erica Courtney, jewelry designer to the stars. Her client list includes the likes of Julia Roberts, Jessica Alba, Ellen DeGeneres, and Sandra Bullock. She also purchased the world’s largest faceted Csarite, weighing in at a whopping 121.65 carats!
